Drought-like conditions in 18 Maharashtra districts, cabinet decision expected Tuesday

Drought-like conditions prevail in 18 districts of Maharashtra, and to review the situation, revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule spoke with collectors of these districts via video conference. He gave clear instructions that all concerned collectors immediately send point-wise, detailed reports on crop losses and the current situation in their districts, so that the cabinet meeting can take a decision and put relief measures in place at once.

Crops have suffered heavy damage in these 18 districts. In view of this, after detailed reports are received from the districts on Monday, the chief minister and the state cabinet will take a concrete decision on helping drought-affected people at the cabinet meeting on the coming Tuesday. Bawankule has directed the concerned collectors, via video conference, to send their reports as soon as possible.

This high-level video conference meeting held from Nagpur was attended by Member of Parliament Maya Ewnate, MLAs Praveen Datke, Mohan Mate, Sameer Meghe and Charansingh Thakur, Dr Rajiv Potdar, police commissioner Vishwas Nangare-Patil, collector Kumar Ashirwad, municipal corporation commissioner Vipin Itankar, rural superintendent of police Harsh Poddar, and senior officials from various departments.

The 18 districts facing drought-like conditions are Ahilyanagar, Solapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Dharashiv, Beed, Latur, Nanded, Parbhani, Hingoli, Washim, Akola, Amravati, Yavatmal, Wardha, Nagpur, Chandrapur and Nandurbar.

In the Marathwada region, soybean, cotton, pigeon pea (tur), turmeric, black gram (urad) and green gram (moong) crops have been badly hit. In the Vidarbha region, besides cotton, moong, urad and tur, cloudy weather in Nagpur and Amravati has caused a fungus-like disease to spread in the orange crop. Dharashiv, Beed and Jalna are facing a severe fodder shortage, and if sugar mills start crushing early, the sugarcane crushing season will be shortened, raising fears of a further fodder shortage. Onion sowing has declined in Solapur, and drought-like conditions have also arisen in Solapur and Nandurbar due to lack of sowing.

To accurately assess the damage, rather than relying on estimates, modern technology such as satellite images and digital imagery is being used. The revenue minister expressed confidence that, giving priority to the suggestions of local elected representatives, an effective and long-term plan of measures would be worked out at Tuesday's cabinet meeting based on the reports received on Monday.